Liberty International has sold a 25.5% stake in Great Portland Estates (GPE) to Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund.
The selling price of 297.5p per share, netting Liberty £123.4m (£149.3m if capital returns to shareholders by GPE are included) represents a £29m profit for Liberty on its original buy-in price.
Analysts estimate that Liberty’s average buy-in price was 230-240p per share since 2000.
Liberty’s advisors on the sale, UBS, are thought to have approached more than ten parties for expressions of interest in the stake.
These included Jamie Ritblat’s Delancey, businessman Sammy Lee, Resolution and a number of other buyout companies.
The stake was seen as a launching pad for a takeover of the company. Following this morning’s announcement Great Portland’s share price rose 7.5p to 289p.
In May, Morgan Stanley clinched a £1.7bn takeover of Canary Wharf, ending the 11-month battle for the Docklands developer.
References: EGi News 14/10/04
